Really?
Thierry Henry, who helped France to the World Cup courtesy of an extra-time forearm trap before a pass to goal-scorer William Gallas, might be fined or suspended? This is just like the Eduardo controversy from earlier this year, and it's absurd. For some reason the footballing authorities seem to think it's reasonable to hand out retroactive punishments that are harsher than the punishments that would have been given at the time.
If the referee had caught Eduardo's dive instead of calling a penalty, Eduardo would have been booked instead of being suspended for two games (the suspension was later overturned on appeal for other reasons). If the refs had spotted Henry's handball, he would have been booked and Ireland would have had a free kick in their own penalty area. Now Henry might be punished for the referees' mistake? Unfortunately, there's just no appropriate remedy. He made a mistake. Players handle the ball all the time, with varying degrees of intention. Henry's was hardly premeditated. It's too late to punish him for it.
While we're at it, Maradona probably deserves the death penalty, if guilt accrues over time.
ReplyDeleteWhat are your thoughts on challenges & play review after any stoppage (like, obviously, a goal-- even deciding between a goal kick vs corner kick)
Obviously Henry shouldn't be punished at this point. I think a more interesting question is whether what he did was wrong. Assuming the hand contact was reflexive rather than intentional, what should he have done? Pointed it out & left the ball? Kicked it out, giving away the goal kick that should have been? Intentionally fired off a crappy cross so as not to have changed the outcome of the game? Whatchoo think?
I think it was reflexive, rather than intentional, as Henry said in his interview. This raises the interesting question of whether it was even a foul, if it wasn't "deliberate," or how the rules should be changed to construe it more clearly as a foul. And I don't think he would have had time to make much of a deliberate decision about it, since his entire involvement in the play took less than half a second, if that. After the goal was scored, should he have refrained from celebrating? Or pointed it out to the referee? Gosh, that would be a lot to ask wouldn't it? I mean he's not being paid to referee the game right?
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